If you were to look inside my fridge, more often then not, you would find a little jar of sauce.

Not just any sauce.

Magic sauce.

A few days after Scarlet was born, my mom came over to make us some dinner and the meal she made has become a staple in our house. The sauce for the roasted veggies comes from one of my favorite food blogs and the dinner concept from my mom's sheer genious.

Thank you Mom.

As I've mentioned before, eating all real foods takes some planning, preperation and time and I'm always looking for easy items I can keep on hand to throw together a quick meal... especially when you can get good leftovers out of it!

A few things about this meal:

• If you are a meat eater and worry that a meal of veggies won't fill you up... I promise this will.
• You can use any veggies you like with the sauce. Although it does taste amazing with the cauliflower!
• I sometimes add garbonzo beans or lentils to the meal for added protein.
• I always double or triple the sauce and keep it on hand for another meal. Thus, the little magic jar.
• If your 3 year old says "I will like vegetables when I get older mama." then you might be out of luck with this one. Yes, I'm speaking from experience.

ENJOY!

Elizabeth

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER AND ASPARAGUS BOWLS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 head of cauliflower - cut into bit sized pieces
• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 1 package of the 5 Grain Blend from Trader Joe's (it is a mix of couscous, orzo, beans and red quinoa) or any grain
• Vegetable broth

THE SAUCE:

I follow these intructions and mix together:

• 2 T almond butter
• 1 T braggs amino acids
• 1 t lemon juice
• 3 T water
• 1 T maple syrup
• 1 t minced ginger
• 1 t minced garlic
• 2 T chopped cashews or almonds

TO MAKE:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Follow the instructions for cooking the 5 Grain Mix and get it going on the stove. I use vegetable broth and coconut oil.

Side note: I usually make the whole package because it works great for leftovers and Duke LOVES it. Seriously great, kid-friendly, mix! I usually mix in some avocado and sometimes I can even hide some broccoli in it. Sometimes.

Mix together the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl.

In a medium sized bowl, toss the cauliflower with about half the sauce and place on a baking sheet. Roast for about 15 minutes.

While the cauliflower starts cooking, toss the asparagus with the remaining sauce.

After about 15 minutes, stir the cauliflower and add the asparagus to the baking sheet and roast for another 10 minutes.

TO SERVE:

Layer everything in a bowl!

If you like spicy, it tastes great with a bit of Sreracha on top.

ENJOY!

(source)

The sun is shinning. The days are slowing getting warmer and longer. The season of berry cobblers and fresh apple crisps is right around the corner and I have a recipe to get you as excited as I am about it!

(I know apples are more of a late summer/fall fruit but, like I said, I’m a little excited.)

I have always LOVED apple crisp but have been deprived for years due to the fact that it contains copious amount of butter… not to mention the flour… both of which my body doesn’t seem to like much.

After years of deprivation (do you feel sorry for me yet?), I decided to take matters into my own hands and attempt an apple crisp that I could eat and not pay for it later.

It’s a crowd pleaser in our house and I hope you enjoy it as well!

ENJOY!

Elizabeth

What are some the recipes your are looking forward to this summer?

MAPLE APPLE CRISP

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 heaping cups granny smith apples (4-5 apples), pealed and chopped into small chunks or slices
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 T real vanilla
• ¼ C real maple syrup
• 1 T cinnamon

• ¾ C oat flour (whole wheat flour works too but I think the oat flour makes it moister and tastier)
• ¾ C slow cooking oats
• 1 C organic brown sugar
• 5 T Earth Balance butter (or real butter)

TO MAKE:

Mix apples, lemon juice, vanilla, maple syrup, and cinnamon all together and place in a medium or large baking pan.

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and butter using a pastry knife or fork until butter is in small chunks and ingredients are combined.

Pour topping over apple mixture and bake at 350 for about 50 min. Check it at that point and see if the top is starting to brown and apples are very soft, it may need a bit more time.

*The key is cooking it long enough for everything to get soft enough to melt in your mouth!

 

TO SERVE:

Enjoy with vanilla ice cream, coconut milk ice cream or pumpkin ice cream!

 

We tested out our ice cream maker we got for Christmas and made some coconut milk ice cream and it did not disappoint!

OTHER VARIATIONS: 

• You can use a pie crust (I think the store bought ones are the best!) on the bottom and then follow the same instructions if you want it to be more pie like
• It is also delicious with real caramel syrup drizzled on top!

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MAPLE APPLE CRISP

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 heaping cups granny smith apples (4-5 apples), pealed and chopped into small chunks or slices
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 T real vanilla
• ¼ C real maple syrup
• 1 T cinnamon

• ¾ C oat flour (whole wheat flour works too but I think the oat flour makes it moister and tastier)
• ¾ C slow cooking oats
• 1 C organic brown sugar
• 5 T Earth Balance butter (or real butter)

TO MAKE:

Mix apples, lemon juice, vanilla, maple syrup, and cinnamon all together and place in a medium or large baking pan.

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and butter using a pastry knife or fork until butter is in small chunks and ingredients are combined.

Pour topping over apple mixture and bake at 350 for about 50 min. Check it at that point and see if the top is starting to brown and apples are very soft, it may need a bit more time.

*The key is cooking it long enough for everything to get soft enough to melt in your mouth!

TO SERVE:

Enjoy with vanilla ice cream, coconut milk ice cream or pumpkin ice cream!

OTHER VARIATIONS:

• You can use a pie crust (I think the store bought ones are the best!) on the bottom and then follow the same instructions if you want it to be more pie like
• It is also delicious with real caramel syrup drizzled on top!

[/print_this]

When Brook and I first met, he didn’t like fish. Of any kind. Ever. I loved fish… but was terrible at making it.

Needless to say, for the first few years of our marriage, there was no fish being bought, prepared or consumed in our household.

Until… one summer we were invited to a ranch that some friends of ours own and they had hired a fantastic chef to cook for us all. We happened to be having salmon for dinner and Brook LOVED it.

I don’t remember what the chef used on the fish (I was too distracted by Brook’s sounds effects as he ate it) but I do remember how excited Brook was about it.

This in turn inspired me to try a bit harder to incorporate fish into our diet on a regular basis and made me determined to find ways to prepare it that Brook would like.

With some time, lots of trial and error and a very patient husband… we now eat fish several times a week and we BOTH love it.

May I encourage you to keep an “open pallet” when it comes to food? Even foods you or your family may not love initially? Just like we individually grow and change… so do our taste buds!

I am not saying make yourself eat things you hate.

There are just some things you may never like.

I want to say that I like beets. They are SO good for you and pretty! The reality is I have tried them in every shape and form and I still think they taste like dirt. Some say they have an “earthy” flavor. I beg to differ.

What I am saying is try new things every once and while and be creative with how you prepare foods.

Especially with your children! Keep trying to find ways to help them eat whole, nutrition filled foods.

I have a 2.5 year old myself and I know how hard this can be! Yet, I already see his tastes changing and as we “strongly encourage” him to at least try a bit of everything.

Today’s recipe is one way we love to eat fish. We usually use it on salmon but it would work on any kind of fish and maybe even on chicken.

ENJOY!

PS: if you like beets, maybe you can send me new recipes to help change how I feel about them! Until then… I will steer clear.

Elizabeth

SMOKED PAPRIKA RUB

Serves 2 – 3 (if you are feeding more, simply double or triple the recipe)

THE RUB:

1 T brown sugar

1 T cumin

1 ½ tsp smoked paprika

A few dashes of cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

Lemon Juice

Olive oil

Salmon/Tilapia – as much as you need to fill the bellies of whom you are feeding.  Adjust quantities of the rub according to how much salmon you use. I used about 10oz of salmon to feed Brook, Duke and myself and this was the perfect amount of rub for that.

Preheat oven to 400F

In a small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Give it a good stir.

Arrange fish on a baking sheet and squeeze or drizzle lemon juice on each piece. Drizzle just a bit of olive on each piece as well. Use your hands to rub it in a bit.

Scoop the rub onto the fish and use your hands to evenly coat the top and sides of the fish.

Place baking sheet in the oven and bake until it flakes with a fork. The baking times will differ depending on what kind of fish you use.

TO SERVE:

It goes great with rice, potatoes, pasta, salad… just about anything. And a side of veggies of course!

We ate ours tonight with sweet potato fries and steamed broccoli.